Financial news

The salaries of those employed in the public sector may increase by six percent from July 1 on, as a result of downsizing of public servants, Labor and Social Policy Minister Emilia Maslarova told the Bulgarian News Agency. "Half of the Bulgarian ministries have already implemented ten-percent downsizing," State Administration Minister Nikolay Vassilev added. The salaries of the teachers may rise for a third time this year from September 1, but the increase will come at the expense of downsizing of five thousand teachers.

A strong smell of natural gas could be felt at the negotiations, which kick off in Moscow today. Sofia and the Kremlin will again put on the agenda complicated problems, which they have tried to solve for years now. Will Russia finally admit that Bulgaria produces submachine-gun Arsenal, which has nothing to do with AK-47? When will Moscow pay the rest of its debt to Sofia? Who is going to repair the MiG-29 fighters? The natural gas, which Bulgaria receives from Russia, remains the biggest issue to be discussed. What price of natural gas will Minister of Economy and Energy Roumen Ovcharov manage to negotiate? All Bulgarian citizens want to know the answer of this question, because it has an immediate bearing on the contents of their pockets.

Privatization

U.S. company Nu Image, tapped to acquire an 95% stake in Sofia-based Boyana Film studios, is yet to assume ownership due to the non-fulfilment of one of the 2 preconditions for the closure of the deal, i.e. the mortgaging of the Boyana Film buildings and land in favour of the Bulgarian state for two successive 10-year periods. The Boyana Film studio chief recently refused to sign the mortgage, saying he was authorised to mortgage only 30.2 ha while the actual contract said 33.5 ha. The management of the film studio will announce a position on the issue today.

Concessions

The concession contracts for the Vidin-Center and Vidin-North ports, on the Danube, and the Straklevo airport near Rousse should be signed by March '07, says Bulgaria's timetable for the granting of airport and harbour concessions. The timetable was presented by transport minister Petar Mutafchiev as part of the public discussion of the program for the development of the domestic ports until 2015. Bulgaria is yet to successfully award an airport concession. A procedure won last year by Denmark's Copenhagen Airports for the airports in Varna and Bourgas was overturned in court and reversed back to the candidate assessment stage.

Hemus highway will be given on concession, the minister of public works Mr. Asen Gagauzov said in Pleven. The chosen alternative is the highway to pass at about 17 km from Pleven. However there is still no ready project for the highway. The destiny of Bulgarian highways will be determined on May 26. Then is the last meeting of the commission, established by the Prime Minister Mr. Sergei Stanishev, for discussion of the big infrastructure projects in Bulgaria.

Companies

The consortium of Sabev&Partners, Euro-Finance and Balkan Advisory Company has been tapped to consult the corporate restructuring of the Bulgarian tobacco monopoly which will involve the privatisation of the tobacco processing units and delicensed Bulgartabac cigarette factories. The advisor will receive remuneration of 151,036 euro and 1.65% performance bonus. Bids for the advisory contract were also filed by the teams of First Financial Brokerage House and Legacom; Kambourov&Partners, Transacta and Bulbrokers. The sell-off adviser will have to prepare the market analyses necessary for the privatisation of most of the units of the tobacco monopoly.

The Bulgarian Central Co-operative Bank (CCB) will ask its shareholders to approve a capital hike to 72.6 mln levs. A June 30 general meeting will vote on a proposal to issue 24,253,593 shares with nominal and issue price of 1 lev. The share sale will raise cash for consumer and mortgage lending operations. Up to 20% of the proceeds will be invested in the expansion of the CCB branch network. CCB hiked its capital from 32,338,128 to 48,507,192 levs in late 2005. In late 2004, the bank enlarged its capital from 16,169,564 to 32,338,128 levs. CCB Group Assets Management, wholly-owned by foreign trade company Chimimport, owns 67.38% of CCB.

A June 30 general meeting of the shareholders of Doverie Obedinen Holding will vote on a proposal to distribute a dividend of 0.053 levs per share for '05. The company has earmarked for dividend 707,000 levs from last year's profit of 1.428 mln levs; the remainder will be added to the investment reserves. The holding posted a consolidated profit of 2.136 mln levs for '05, up 969,000 levs over '04.

Strabag, the Austrian company hired to build the new passenger terminal of the Sofia International Airport, has opposed the use of a mediator in its negotiations with the Bulgarian transport ministry on an amicable agreement concerning the much-delayed launch of the facility, said transport minister Petar Mutafchiev. The negotiations, which will aim to avoid bringing into the matter the International Court of Arbitration in Paris, were supposed to begin after the 2 parties agree on a mediator. The talks will focus on the new hand-over timetable for the passenger terminal, the repair of defects in the new runway and the ceiling of the terminal and the default penalties. The initial hand-over deadline for the passenger terminal was August 2005. 

Alma Tour, the Bulgarian tour operator with main focus on the Russian travel market, said it plans to increase the number of holiday package sales by 35-40% in '06 on the back of the 65,000 bookings made via the company last year. Alma Tour has forecast sales of 6,000 to 8,000 holiday packages on the Slovenian market this year. The company will also start marketing Bulgaria in Portugal and the Netherlands.

The President of the Bulgarian Industrial Association Bojidar DANEV will participate in the international conference “The Challenges Facing Participatory Democracy in an Enlarged Europe” to be held in Vienna on 15 –16 May 2006

22-24 May 2006, Sofia: 3rd Central European Congress on Food - CEFood 2006

THE 4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ZINC 2006

UNICE Day "Why do companies care about Europe?" - 17 October 2006

Europe

ThyssenKrupp AG, Germany’s largest steelmaker, said second-quarter profit rose 72 percent because of improving demand for steel. The company’s shares rose to a six-year high. Net income in the three months to March 31, excluding a one-time gain from a real-estate sale last year, rose to 441 million euros (USD568 million), or 84 cents a share, from 257 million euros, or 50 cents, a year earlier, the Dusseldorf-based company said today in a statement.

America

The head of cardiovascular research for Merck & Co. downplayed concern about a possible formulation problem with the company's experimental cholesterol drugs, saying clinical trials were proceeding smoothly. One of the high-profile products, Merck's MK-524B, is designed to combine in one pill the company’s widely used drug Zocor to lower "bad" LDL cholesterol, the nutrient niacin to raise levels of "good" HDL cholesterol, and a third ingredient to block the facial flushing that is often a side effect of niacin.

Asia

A South Korean court on Friday rejected a request to issue an arrest warrant for Paul Yoo, the head of Lone Star in Korea, throwing into doubt an attempt by the country’s prosecutors to step up investigations into the private equity group’s activities. Lone Star’s local offices were raided in March on suspicion of alleged tax and currency irregularities. Authorities are also looking into claims that Lone Star took over Korea Exchange Bank, the country’s fifth-largest lender, in 2003 based on manipulated financial data.

Svishtov monastery The protecting veil of the Holy Mother

The Svishtov monastery The protecting veil of the Holy Mother rises in a beautiful grove some 5 km from the Danubian town of Svishtov. Unfortunately the history of the monastery is not known today. The only fact that has reached modern times is that the monastery was built during the Ottoman yoke and later was destroyed. The present appearance of the monastery is dated to the end of 19 century. The complex is relatively big – two residential buildings and an agricultural premise. The monastery’s church The Assumption of Virgin Mary has an impressive appearance. The only reminder of the old cloister is the small stone-made altar lying in the monastery’s yard. Near the monastery a spring with curable water issues. The mineral water was known yet in the times of the Roman town of Nove (near today’s Svishtov). During the Russo-Turkish War in 1877-1878 the great duke Nikolay, brother of the Russian Emperor Alexander, set up in the region of the monastery.